The Whole Student offers notable people the chance to share the story of the teachers who influenced them — who made them feel seen, heard and known — shaping them into the leaders they are today. Join Kal Balaven, the Head of School at Dunn School in Los Olivos, Calif., for a heartfelt, sincere and often surprising trip through the educational experiences of his guests in this short-form podcast brought to you by the DunnCast network. Dunn School was founded on the idea of Whole Student Education, and, for more than 60 years, has been accomplishing its mission through the elevation of five Core Values: Emotional Wellness, Physical Readiness, Intellectual Growth, Social Responsibility and Moral Courage.
Listen on:
After a the first two seasons filled with notable leaders and entrepreneurs shining a spotlight on the teachers who shaped them, Season 3 of The Whole Student is all about Community and Belonging. Now joined by co-host Mo Pritzker, this year, Dunn Head of School, Kalyan Balaven, prompts guests to offer their insights on the current state of education and how we can find solution-based practices to help students adapt to the social — and often digital — world before them.
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
In a matter of weeks, Mike "Oz" Osegueda lost his dream job then suffered a devastating family tragedy. But the former prototypical journalism student took inspiration from his grandfather's motor shop to pivot into entrepreneurship as the premier Fresno food aficionado, and has used those reporter skills to help bring awareness and reform to hit-and-run penalties in California.
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Join Montecito Journal CEO and Executive Editor Gwyn Lurie as she details the most impactful teachers along an illustrious career that includes spans as an ABC News journalist, documentary filmmaker, Hollywood screenwriter, and on to her renaissance in local print journalism. In contrast to previous guests who leaned on classroom experiences, Gwyn heaps praise on the teachers and mentors who helped shape her in her adult life.
Wednesday Oct 12, 2022
Wednesday Oct 12, 2022
Nationally renowned for his writing and Ted Talk on racial literacy as well as his decades of experience as a clinical and consulting psychologist in low-income rural and urban neighborhoods across the country, Howard C. Stevenson had teachers who recognized and celebrated his talent and who challenged the status quo to give him and other black students opportunities that he still treasures today. Just as vivid in his mind are those teachers who marked him for abuse. On this episode of The Whole Student, hear Howard's recollections both of teachers who uplifted him and those who took out their aggression on him as a youth.
Wednesday Sep 07, 2022
Wednesday Sep 07, 2022
Season 2 of The Whole Student podcast starts now! Justin Ching, Forbes 30 Under 30 award-winning writer/director for TV and film — and Dunn School alumnus — returns to his alma mater to talk about his experience as a troubled youth in the Inland Empire, the transformational teachers he experienced at Dunn School, and an entrepreneurship mentor who influenced him at home.
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
As a collegiate and professional athlete, Grady Hall's formative teachers ranged from the third-grade teacher who first legitimized and encouraged his status as a day dreamer to high-level coaches who taught him in adulthood how to cope with pressure on the baseball pitcher's mound. They're lessons that stick with and influence him into the next stage of his life and career as a budding filmmaker.
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
As he supported his wife Giulia through psychotic episodes and grueling hospital stays, International Bestselling author Mark Lukach’s world was completely upended. He dedicated his waking life to supporting her and first imagined his unconditional love would solve everything.
But Lukach learned an important lesson during those times that is especially poignant as the country acknowledges National Mental Health Awareness Month: You have to take care of yourself — mentally, emotionally and physically — in order to care for someone else.
“Twelve years ago when Giulia got sick, the conversations about self care were really quiet and sort of hidden in the closet,” Lukach said, “and thankfully I feel like there’s a lot more around that. I’m glad I can be another voice encouraging people to take care of themselves as they face their own traumas in their lives and lean on the people who they love to get through them.”
Lukach, an educator and author of the International Bestselling book ‘My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward’ is the latest guest of “The Whole Student” podcast, a show hosted by Lukach’s former colleague in the classroom, Dunn Head of School Kalyan Balaven. Lukach spoke about the teachers who have influenced him over the years, including the 10th-grade English teacher, Mr. Jordan, who inspired his love of writing — by challenging him with his first and only poor grade.
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Tuesday Apr 26, 2022
Acclaimed graphic novelist Emily Bowen Cohen writes and draws from the perspective of her multi-ethnic identity — Jewish and Native American. But defining that identity was something she was struggling with as a youth after the death of her father, a Native American physician in Oklahoma. Then her English teacher in her mom's home state of New Jersey gave her an assignment that forced her to confront not only her feelings about the loss of her dad but also what being Native American means to her. The cathartic and formative experience was perhaps her secret origin, laying the groundwork for her artistic expression.
Don't miss this episode of The Whole Student, and enjoy Emily's work at the following spots:
https://www.memberoftwotribes.com
https://www.instagram.com/memberoftwotribes
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Our Women in STEM series continues with RingCentral executive and Ukraine native Kira Makagon, who overcame obstacles including Soviet ethnic discrimination against Jews prior to immigrating to the United States as a teen. She talked with Kal about her early education in Ukraine, the teachers who influenced her before and after finding a home in the Bay Area, how all of those experiences impacted her standout leadership style in an industry led mostly by men, and how shocked she is by Russia's current invasion of Ukraine.
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
The student becomes the teacher on the latest 'Whole Student' podcast! Tune in for a special episode of The Whole Student. Dunn School Learning Strategies teacher Kimberly Brandon makes a guest appearance to help tell the story of Charli Turner Thorne, Brandon's coach, mentor and surrogate mom. Thorne has the second most wins in the history of Pac-12 women's basketball, and after filming this interview earlier in the season, she just recently announced that she is retiring from coaching. After 25 seasons of exemplifying the care and empathy she learned as a student, Charli leaves a lasting legacy of pupils like Kimberly who carry her Whole Student Educational philosophy forward.
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
To kick off Black History Month, The Whole Student podcast host Kal Balaven talks with Zaretta Hammond, an educator and the author of "Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students." Zaretta's journey as a student was heavily influenced by her cultural and class perspective, growing up poor as one of few Black students in an affluent and predominantly white and Asian-American school. The teachers who impacted her most were those who saw beyond those differences and pushed her to level up — to break through the predefined labels placed on her by others and even herself.
Whole Student refers to the magical moment when a student is fully seen, heard, and known. This is the spark of a relationship between student and teacher, where the former is catalyzed on a journey beyond what they thought possible, and the latter is a proud advisor cheering from the sidelines.